Geo-Engineering Climate Change
Environmental Necessity or Pandora's Box?

The first critical appraisal of the geo-scale engineering interventions proposed to counter the devastation of run-away global warming.

Brian Launder (Edited by), J. Michael T. Thompson (Author)

9780521198035, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 10 December 2009

332 pages, 60 b/w illus. 30 tables
25.4 x 18 x 2.1 cm, 0.84 kg

'… a valuable resource to many … [provides] an overview - but at a detailed level.' Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

This book is the first to present a detailed and critical appraisal of the geo-scale engineering interventions that have been proposed as potential measures to counter the devastation of run-away global warming. Early chapters set the scene with a discussion of projections of future CO2 emissions and techniques for predicting climate tipping points. Subsequent chapters then review proposals to limit CO2 concentrations through improved energy technologies, removal of CO2 from the atmosphere, and stimulated uptake by the oceans. Schemes for solar radiation management involving the reflection of sunlight back into space and using artificially brightened clouds and stratospheric aerosols are also assessed. Pros and cons of the various schemes are thoroughly examined – throwing light on the passionate public debate about their safety. Written by a group of the world's leading authorities on the subject, this comprehensive reference is essential reading for researchers and government policy makers at Copenhagen and beyond.

Preface Brian Launder and J. Michael T. Thompson
Part I. Scene Setting: 1. Geo-engineering: could we or should we make it work? Stephen H. Schneider
2. Reframing the climate change challenge in light of post-2000 emission trends Kevin Anderson and Alice Bows
3. Predicting climate tipping points J. Michael T. Thompson and Jan Sieber
4. A geo-physiologist's thoughts on geo-engineering James Lovelock
5. Coping with carbon: a near term strategy to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power stations Paul Breeze
Part II. Carbon Dioxide Reduction: 6. Capturing CO2 from the atmosphere David W. Keith, Kenton Heidel and Robert Cherry
7. Carbon neutral hydrocarbons Frank S. Zeman and David W. Keith
8. Ocean fertilisation: a potential means of geo-engineering? R. S. Lampitt, E. P. Achterberg, T. R. Anderson, J. A. Hughes, M. D. Iglesias-Rodriguez, B. A. Kelly-Gerreyn, M. Lucas, E. E. Popova, R. Sanders, J. G. Shepherd, D. Smythe-Wright and A. Yool
9. The next generation of iron fertilisation experiments in the Southern Ocean V. Smetacek, and S. W. A. Naqvi
Part III. Solar Radiation Management: 10. Global temperature stabilization via controlled albedo enhancement of low-level maritime clouds John Latham, Philip J. Rasch, Chih-Chieh (Jack) Chen, Laura Kettles, Alan Gadian, Andrew Gettleman, Hugh Morrison, Keith Bower and Tom Choularton
11. Sea-going hardware for the cloud albedo method of reversing global warming Stephen Salter, Graham Sortino and John Latham
12. An overview of geo-engineering of climate using stratospheric sulfate aerosols Philip J. Rasch, Simone Tilmes, Richard P. Turco, Alan Robock, Luke Oman, Chih-Chieh (Jack) Chen, Georgiy L. Stenchikov and Rolando R. Garcia
13. Global and Arctic climate engineering: numerical model studies Ken Caldeira and Lowell Wood
Index.

Subject Areas: Mining technology & engineering [TTU], Civil engineering, surveying & building [TN], Energy conversion & storage [THRH], Petroleum technology [THFP], Meteorology & climatology [RBP], Energy & natural resources law [LNCR]